Gone: An Alone Novel
by InfernoLeo9
Summary: In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE. Everyone except the young. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Gone too are the phones, internet, and television. There is no way to get help. Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. Sides are being chosen for imminent war. Here is the story of Kate Terral and Lucas Lowe as they struggle to survive in their family. Updates Mon 7p
1. ONE

**A/N: I know it doesn't mention any kid named Kate in the books, but can we pretend, just for the sake of the story, she does exist. This WILL follow all of the books, and none of the added characters will change anything from the books. Definition?- THESE KIDS WILL NOT AFFECT THE OUTCOME OF THE BOOK. WHATSOEVER! _NO CHANGES!_ *DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE MATERIAL OF THE BOOKS BY MICHAEL GRANT! I ONLY OWN Additional Characters. ALL ELSE BELONGS TO MICHAEL GRANT* Hope you enjoy ^.^**

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**299 hours, 54 minutes**

One minute the teacher was gazing coldly at Kate, preparing to hand out a detention. And the next minute he was gone.

There.

Gone.

No "poof". No flash of light. No explosion.

Kate Terral was in third-period English class, once again about to be offered a detention for speaking out of turn, and loudly, at that. It wasn't exactly her fault, considering it was really Max's fault for trying to get the answers for the math homework due in less than 15 minutes. But of course Kate wouldn't rat him out. That's just the kind of person she was.

It took a moment for her to realize Mr. Kripkey was gone. He was gone in mid-word, which she was fairly certain was 'cheating'. But for some reason, that word hung in the air, incomplete.

Kate reached out, cautious, to the space that had once occupied her teacher. When her hand met empty air, she tried waving it around.

She turned to her classmates, all sitting wide-eyed. "Tell me he isn't there," said Kate, looking at Max.

"He isn't there," he said.

"Where'd he go then?" asked one kid, Tim.

"Poof," Max said it, with a matter-of-fact look on his face.

"Well… what now?" asked Elwood Booker, the top guy in school.

Max grinned, getting up. "We get the hell out of here!"

And with that, he walked to the door, opened it dramatically, and walked out. He held the door open for Kate. She walked over, and out into the hall.

The long, tiled walkway was eerily empty, with the fluorescent lights flickering. Max laughed. "Come on, let's go get our stuff and ditch before any other teachers show up."

"Max, I've really passed my limit of ditches for the semester. Maybe we should go find Roscoe, or Anna."

Max pouted for a minute, then walked over to the door across the hall. He peeked in, and let out a laugh. "Dude, there's no teacher in there either! The kids are freaking out."

Kate walked forward and swung open the door. Inside, a bunch of 3rd graders were wandering about, trying to find their teacher. One little girl was sitting in the corner, crying.

One came up to her, frowning. "Where's Ms. Hoffman?"

Max laughed. "Gone!" He walked over to the blackboard, and wrote 'School's Out!' This caused all the young kids to get their bags and walk out.

"Max! Snap out of it!" Kate hit him. "We can't just instantly assume that the teachers gone!"

"Well what do you want me to say? Stick around and wait till sunset? C'mon, let's just get out of here. All this desperation is making me sick." Max pulled a 'I'm gonna vomit' face, before walking out of the room. Kate sighed and looked back, but followed anyways.

Out in the hallways, kids were starting to filter out of their classrooms. Some went to their lockers, others just ran around, laughing nervously.

Max nodded to Kate. "I'll go find Anna, you get Roscoe. Make sure to get your skateboard!"

"A'ight, meet you at the bike racks," she said.

Max did a mock salute before pulling on the hood of his sweatshirt over his mop of brown hair, and disappearing into the crowd.

For a minute, she felt like drowning in her despair. If the teachers were gone, so would Bibi. Then who would take care of them? But she pushed it back, and ran off.

It was pretty easy to find Roscoe. His black hair could be spotted anywhere, gelled up in a fro hawk with the red dye. Carolyn yelled to him, and eventually Roscoe snaked through the now mob of kids mulling the hallways. In his hand was his skateboard.

"Yo, was'up?" Roscoe asked. "All the teachers poofed."

"Yeah. No idea what's going on" she said.

"Let's get out of here," he laughed.

"I need to get my skateboard. You go ahead. Max should be at the bike rack with Anna."

Roscoe nodded, then threw down his board, and yelled at the kids to get out the way before rolling away.

Kate ran through the halls, getting angry looks from several kids and several choice words, but she grabbed her board and helmet from her locker. She gazed sadly at the colorful skateboard. It was a birthday present from her father, before he had the accident. But Kate shook those thoughts from her head, and ran out.

People were streaming out of the school, some boisterous and joking, but most were crying. Girls were huddled in groups of two or three, crying and holding each other. Some boys were hunched over, kicking leaves, muttering. A few were even crying. Kate thought back to the news feed of school shootings. This was an eerie replication of those broken kids.

Siblings and friends hung onto each other. Little kids mulled around, kindergarteners, were wandering the campus, looking lost. They weren't really old enough to find their way home, and no one was offering to help them.

At the bike rack, Max was jabbing Roscoe in the chest with his finger. They seemed in an avid argument, and Anna was hanging back, looking torn.

Just as Kate got to them, Roscoe batted Max's hand away. "Yo, I am through with this. You guys come find me when you're ready to have fun." With that, he skated away.

"What was that about?" Kate asked, turning to Anna. She was a short girl, with long black hair underneath a flat-bill cap. She never wore pants, always short shorts, and had on her signature red sneakers. She was 13 and a grade below Kate, and especially troubled. Her record was dotted with incidents, where little things like stabbing someone with a pencil, tripping a kid in class, and even a food fight was common.

"Roscoe joked about how if the teachers are gone, so are the parents, and Max got upset."

Max snorted in amusement. "Did not. Just said it wouldn't be cool if my parents were gone too. Come on, let's go check out our houses."

Kate nodded, but held up her hands. "I can't. My sister, I better find her."

"Kate, relax. She'll go home, just as you. But till then, we gotta go find the 'rents." She felt ready to argue against him, but there was something in his eyes that worried Kate. Minutes before, he had a cool, laid-back shine. But now, he looked unsure, maybe even scared.

"Fine. Your place is closest. Let's go there," said Anna.

Max nodded, and the three skated off down Sherman Avenue. It didn't take long to get to Max's house, a two-story with a wooden porch and chairs. Max grabbed his board and ran up the steps. He jiggled the nob, and gasped when he found it unlocked. "They're home!"

He opened the door and ran inside, calling for his parents. Anna and Kate just walked in, coolly, and Annd walked over to the refrigerator. She opened it and grabbed a coke. "Want one?"

"I'm good," said Kate, taking off her helmet and setting it down on the kitchen counter. She ran a hand through her hair, which didn't even fall to her shoulders.

Anna kicked it closed, and they leaned back, watching Max run through the house.

"Mom, Dad! Hey!"

"Face it bro, they aren't here. They poofed," Anna said, and shrugged.

Max shook his head, and pulled out his phone. He dialed in his parents number, but his face fell as he put it to his ear.

"No service."

"What?" Kate fumbled for her smart phone, and tried calling her dad. An automated voice said there was no service.

Anna swore, glancing at her phone. "No internet either."

"Try the TV." Kate pointed at the screen in the living room. They walked over, and turned it on. The screen was filled with static, and Max flipped through the channels.

"Nothing!" He exclaims, throwing down the remote.

"So we have no internet, no phones, no cable. What the hell?" mumbled Anna.

Kate shook her head. "Weird stuff going on here."

"Lemme go check on Brett." He ran upstairs. Kate and Anna looked up after him, and seconds later he ran back down. "He's asleep. We can come back for him later, right?"

"Totally," said Anna.

Max looked at Kate sadly. "Your place?"

"Na, let's go check Anna's. I wanna meet my sister when she gets back home."

"Yeah. I guess if we're going to chill anywhere, I would prefer your house anyways," he said, sullen.

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**A/N: There we have it folks. First one. Yes, Roscoe as in the skater from Sinder's blog. I know where I'm going with this. I do.**

**Astrid: Oh really?**

**Me: Yes really.**

**10/14 update: read back through this, saw some issues. Fixed 'em!**


	2. TWO

**298 hours, 54 minutes**

Kate glanced around, uncertain, as they skated up Sherman and onto Alameda Avenue. At the corner, a car had crashed into a parked Toyota, still running. Steam came from beneath the crumpled hood of the car, and the Toyota's alarm rang in Kate's ears.

"What the hell happened here?" asked Max, pulling up to look at the accident.

"The person driving must have poofed," said Kate. She turned around and pulled up next to Max and Anna.

Anna cursed. "No cars, no drivers."

Kate shook her head. "Let's get out of here." And with one last glance at the wreck, she turned onto Alameda.

Max and Anna joined her as she pulled into the plaza. It was a small open space, a sort of park with patches of green and a fountain in the middle that never worked. There were benches and brick sidewalks and trash cans, all good for jumping and grinding, but at the skater's own risk. At the top of the square was the modest town hall and church, side by side. Stores ringed around the plaza, some of which had been closed since forever. One, in which had once been a record store, had been a place that Roscoe had once taken her, back when they were twelve. He said that his dad had once taken him when he was little. There were several adults, all practically dead to the world from the drugs. Roscoe had even tried snuffing cocaine, but Kate had said no when she was offered some. She didn't like the way the adults moved, nor the smell. And she certainly did not want to be taken advantage of. She had left not soon after arriving, but Roscoe had stayed behind and lost his virginity that night.

Kate had always been a social outcast, from the minute she began school. At first she had been a geek, always recounting the stupidest of facts, and some that had gotten her in trouble. But before long, she realized that she needed a change of crowd. The geeks were turning into people to be bullied, and the only social groups that were relatively left alone were the surfers and skaters. The ocean was never really big with her, so she decided to try skating.

Ever since, she has done everything to blend in, short of becoming some F student. She wore the clothes, cut the hair, talked the talk, and mastered the swagger that was necessary for a skater. But deep down, that wasn't really her. In truth, she was as much a geek as she was when she was young, and had even secretly maintained a relationship with a girl next door, Brenna Sparth.

They skated through the plaza and down Alameda and onto Eastern Avenue. This was the edges of the bad neighborhood, and Anna's place was no exception. Next door, the Rottweiler that had been the bane of Anna's existence was throwing himself against the glass window.

"That's going to be trouble, isn't it," said Max flatly. Anna pushed open the chain-link fence and went up to the steps of her house. After fishing out her keys, she opened the door.

"Yeah, I guess so. Pets will be locked in houses, and I guess babies too," said Kate.

Anna let out a half-hearted call. Her cat, a fat one ginger tabby named Pumpkin, came around the corner and meowing noisily, but no one was around.

"Maybe she's up the hill," said Max.

Anna stiffened. Up the hill was, of course, a reference to Coates Academy, a private boarding school for troubled kids. Anna's mother served as a faculty member, accounting and all that. "I sure as hell hope not. I hate that place."

Kate grinned inwardly. Anna had spent a single semester in Coates, having been given a steep discount. In that time, Anna had nearly gone crazy. She would constantly tell Kate that the people up there were psychopaths and sadists. In the end, Anna's complaining and the finances sent her back to Perdido Beach.

"We all do. Those rich brats." Max spat. "They think they're all that."

"What experiences do you have with Coates?" Kate asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Dated a girl up there, almost a year ago. I used to ride up on Friday nights, hang out with her. And let me tell you, she was a manipulative bitch. But real easy on the eyes, if you know what I mean." He wiggled his eyebrows and bit his lower lip.

Kate groaned. "As if any girl would be stupid enough to let you in her pants."

Anna laughed, then pet her cat. "Well, my mom's not here. Let's get out of this place."

"What about the cat?" Max asked.

"I'll come back for her. Can I sleep over at your place, Kate? Don't want to come back here and sleep in any empty house with that hellhound next door."

Kate laughed. "Sure. C'mon, let's beat it."

They went back outside, and Anna didn't even bother to lock the front door.

Next door, the Rottweiler was still going at it. But something was different this time. The barks had turned to whines, and it was desperately trying to escape.

"What the hell is wrong with Hades?" asked Max.

Kate looked closer. "There's smoke."

"Smoke?" Max walked up to the window, then swore. "The couch is on fire!"

"Come on! We gotta do something!" cried Kate.

"Call 911," suggested Anna, but Kate was pretty sure there was sarcasm behind the statement.

"But there's not cell service," said Max.

Kate swore at Max, and then turned to Anna. "You have any fire extinguishers?"

"Yeah, one underneath my kitchen sink," said Anna, and Kate went and hopped her fence. She ran up into the house, and went for the kitchen. She scrabbled to open the cabinet, but managed to and grabbed the red can.

Outside, there was the sound of a window crashing. Kate ran outside to see Max helping the dog out the window. It ran off the second it got to the ground.

Kate ran forward, and tossed the fire extinguisher to Max. He nodded, and crawled in. Kate went in after him, coughing as the smoke filtered out of the window.

Inside, the heat was searing. Max was spraying the fire, screaming as he went. Kate didn't wait, and went into the kitchen, grabbing a bowl and filling it with water. She ran back and splashed the water onto the remaining flames.

Max stomped out the last of the fire, then went and opened up the front door. Anna came in, wincing as her sneakers crunched on the broken glass.

"How the hell did this happen?"" asked Anna.

Max grimaced and picked up a small metal object in front of the couch. Kate peered closer.

"A lighter," said Max. "The guy must have dropped in when he poofed."

Anna cursed. "Let's get out of here."

Kate mumbled in agreement, and the three teens left the house.

**_~Linbreak~_**

"Listen champ, this is all for the better."

"No Dad, it's for you and Mom," said Lucas, his voice tight. Lucas Lowe was absolutely sick of his parents. They had fought from the moment he was born, separated a dozen times throughout the years, and had now finally divorced.

Now his father was taking him to some new city to restart life, and far away from his friends.

"But Sacramento!" exclaimed his father, Nicholas Lowe. He patted his son's knee, and turned back to the wheel of his Subaru.

Lucas just grumbled and pulled out his phone. A text had just popped up, from his girlfriend back in Santa Barbra. **U ok?**it said.

**No. But at least its better than being stuck at my mom's. She will have gotten her boyfriend moved in by now.** He sent the text, then turned grumpily back. On the right, a green sign that said 'Welcome to Perdido Beach!'

"Oh wow! This is Fallout Alley! You know, 13 years ago, a meteor struck the nuclear power plant here. How crazy is that? It got the name Fallout Alley because of it." He slowed down and prepared to make the turn onto the access road. "Let's go take a quick look, shall we?"

"Sure, whatever," said Lucas, then groaned. "Why did you even pick Sacramento? I mean, that place is the capital of this godforsaken state."

When no answer came, he looked to the driver's seat. Instead of his fifty year old father, with balding head and glasses, there was an empty space.

"What the hell?" Lucas looked out the windows. All around him, the cars were starting to veer of course. Inside them, there was no driver. Lucas himself was in mid turn, and a car was fast approaching.

He cursed, and hopped from his seat and into the driver's. He turned sharply, and zoomed for the access road. To the side, an 18-wheeler came crushing down, and it took all Lucas' strength to get him down the road. The truck clipped his rear, sending him spinning, but he made it onto the access road.

As he headed down the street, he gradually applied the brakes, until he was sitting in a mid-section. He gasped, and panted for a minute, then swore. "What the hell?"

Then, to the side, a car came rolling down the street. It hit the Subaru with bone-rattling force. Then everything went black.

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**A/N: Lucas is a real kid, as seen in Light. That Rottweiler is going to come back and bite them in the butt (of course), and more real characters are going to be incorporated into the story over time. Next chapter: we see Kate's sister, her friends, and the neighbors.**


	3. THREE

**298 hours, 17 minutes**

They skated back up Eastern and onto Alameda. Max had pulled out his iPod and was listening to music as they skated along the middle of the street. It was a nice enough day. Just no adults.

They had gotten to the intersection of Alameda and First Avenue, when Kate looked both ways, just to be sure. To the right, not too far away, was the steaming crash of two cars. "Yo, look!" she yelled to her friends.

Max and Anna looked up the road. "Whoa, that looks bad," said Max, pulling out his ear buds.

"What if someone's in there? Come on!" Kate jumped off her board and ran over.

It was a small Subaru and some SUV. The passenger side was demolished, but in the driver's seat was a teenaged boy with black hair.

"Hey, there's a guy in here!"

"What?" Anna ran up. She swore when she caught sight of the boy. "We better get him out of there."

Max opened up the door. "Ah, hell, this kid's out cold." He reached in, and pulled the boy out. He wore ripped jeans, and an Underarmor grey shirt.

Kate helped Max lay him down on the road. A cut on his head was bleeding. She kneeled down. "Oh man, you don't look good," she whispered.

"Do you recognize him?" asked Anna, who was peering down at the boy.

"Na. He's probably from out of town," said Max.

"He's kinda cute. If he needs CPR, I totally know CPR."

Both Kate and Max looked at Anna incredulously. "Is that really what you're thinking right now?" Kate asked.

"He's waking up!" yelled Max. Kate turned back to the boy, as his eyes opened slowly. They were a stone blue.

"Yo man, you ok?" asked Anna.

The boy sat up straight. "Whoa!"

Max helped the boy to his feet. "What happened?"

"I don't know… my dad and I were going to Sacramento, then… he was gone. I barely got into the driver's seat in time," said the boy.

"What's your name?" asked Kate.

"Lucas. Lucas Lowe. Where am I?"

"Perdido Beach."

"Perdido Beach?" Lucas shook his head.

"Yeah. That small town that several years ago had a meteor strike that led to this place being a dud town," Anna laughed.

Predido Beach was, and probably always would be, a small town on the edge of California. It was on the other side of the coastal highway, with no room for growth. It was a sleepy little town, with straight, tree-lined streets and mostly older, Spanish-style stucco bungalows with sloped orange tile roofs and such. The laws were well-kept and trimmed, and backyards were fenced.

Perdido Beach had a resort hotel south of town, and Coates Academy up in the hills, and the power plant, but besides that, there was nothing to see. The nearest mall was in San Luis. The nearest major shopping center was down the cost twenty miles. North, up the coast were the mountains, pressed so close to the sea, there was no room for building, besides the strip where the nuclear power plant sat. Beyond that was national parkland, with the ancient redwoods.

So, in all, Perdido Beach was pathetic. And Kate desperately wanted to escape it.

"Welcome to Perdido Beach, man," said Max with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks," Lucas grumbled. "So, what's going on?"

"All the adults disappeared," said Kate.

"You're kidding," said Lucas.

"Nope! We're on our own!" Anna exclaimed.

"Well, there has to be someone, right?" He pulled out his phone, trying to call someone.

"Already tried that," said Max. "No service. No internet. No television."

Lucas swore.

Kate nodded to the boy. "You should head to the plaza. That's where everyone one else is headed."

He looked on the edge of tears, but when she moved to comfort him, he hardened. "Thanks for getting me out of that."

"Yo man, it's just one bro helping out another. Need any help, send out a word for Max Trotter." He slapped down his board. "Stay safe!"

Kate nodded to him, and the three friends skated off.

**_~Linebreak~_**

The rest of the way to Kate's place was uneventful. They went down the street, rumbling. Max had his ear buds back in, and was beat boxing to a quick beat.

Soon, they were at the intersection that led to her house. She lived on the corner of Grant Street and Pacific Boulevard. It was a nice enough house, a single story in the Spanish style that dominated Perdido Beach. Most of the flooring was red brick, and the furniture was nice enough.

But… that was before there was a car lodged inside it.

"Bibi!" Kate cried, and she hopped off her board and ran to the car. It had rammed into the wall, shattering the door and blocking the way in. She ended up sliding over the hood of the car into the living room.

"Bibi!" she called again.

"Kate, stop! You're going to get hurt!" Max was peering in from outside.

Kate fell on her knees. "No. No, no. No!" She broke. Tears started to stream down her face. "Not again! This can't be happening! I can't take it if it happens again!"

Max materialized beside her, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She melted into his embrace, sobbing. "Shh, it's ok."

"Not again," she sobbed out. "She's all I have left!"

Well, of course, her mother was still alive. But Yvette Terral had become a cold shell of her former self, her husband taking with him what warmth she had. Before Kate was born, she had been a lawyer, and a good one at that. But when they began trying for her, Matthew had gotten a job at the power plant in Perdido Beach, and they had moved away from their old home in Ohio all the way to California. And there they had stayed, living off quite the salary, in relative happiness.

But when the accident happened, Kate's mother had to get a real job. And she had instantly got one- in Paso Robles, almost 40 miles away. They were prepping to move when her grandmother lost her job back in Ohio, and offered to stay with the girls in their house while their mother rented an apartment in the city. It had taken a lot of arguing, but with that, her mother moved to Paso Robles, and Kate and Abbi remained in their last ounce of normality.

So life was one big cycle now. Get through the month until her mother comes to visit, then hide in her room while her mother stays for 20 hours, then suffer once she leaves from the nightmares that plague her. And it would go on, until she left for college. She couldn't wait for that day.

"Kate, its ok," he whispered the words, rubbing her back. "I'm sure she's fine."

Kate's sobs came to a halt, and she looked up at him. She could kiss him right now, but not out of love. Just from the sheer fact that he had been there for her from the moment the accident happened, and stayed by her side. When the nightmares came in the night, she called him. He would sneak over to her house, and hold her as she cried. When the weight of the world came crashing down, Max was there to hold her up. When she got in fights with Raphael-which was often nowadays-he would bridge the gap and bring them back together. No one had been there for her like he had, not even her grandmother. They knew everything about each other, and that was enough for Kate. Max was a true friends, and had been there thick and thin.

So she kissed him on the cheek and hugged him. "Thanks Max. How come I can always count on you?"

He snorted. "How can you not?" He looked her in the eyes, brown meeting blue. They were soft, and caring, but they had a hard edge deep within. "But we need to stay strong through… whatever this is."

Anna came in from the back way, and tossed a key onto the kitchen counter. "You really need to move that key. It's in the same damn place every time."

Behind her, the dogs came running in. Two dogs, not even a foot high came barking and yipping.

The copper colored one, with a scruffy look to him, ran up. Kate laughed and hugged him. "Cooper," she muttered into his fur.

The other, a black and white rat terrier, leaped up and put her front paws on Kate's shoulders. She yawned, making a strange, but cute sound, promptly stealing away the attention from her brother.

"Paris sure is being nice," said Max, eyeing her nervously.

Kate laughed at the thought. "Would you get over that? It was a year!"

"She nearly tore off my ear!" he protested.

Anna let out a low whistle. "Hope you have your insurance up to date."

Kate stood up, looking mournfully at the car, a Honda, that had lodged itself in her house. "Mom's gonna rip a new one."

"If my landlord saw that, he'd rip your Mom's record of ripping new ones," Max countered.

"And somehow, she'd blame it all on me," said Anna, then giggled. "Your mom really doesn't like me."

The blonde smiled coyly. "She thinks your some kind of delinquent."

"Well aren't I?" She looked back with an innocent expression.

Kate rolled her eyes. "I just wish I knew where Abbi was."

Just then, a clatter came from the car. They all turned to see a large, rounded girl peek out from over the hood. "Kate, is that you?"

"Brenna? Hang on, we're coming out."

The three of them managed to break their way out of the house, and came face to face with Brenna. Tramp and Tulip ran over and barked at her.

Brenna Sparth. At one point, Kate had been a part of her social group, along with Piper McKillien, Rachel Hogan, Missy Roe, and Astrid Ellison. But that group had split up in first grade, when Kate joined the skaters, Rachel moved away, Missy's sister introduced her to weed, and Astrid became too good for friends. Kate hadn't spoken to her in years, and didn't want to. She was a painful reminder of a time long gone, and she probably didn't even remember her name.

Brenna had been the one person she had actually liked after all these years. Piper was too distant for her liking, too depressing. Kate had enough of that in her own house, once a month, that always conveniently coincided with her period.

Brenna was kind, bright, and filled with hope and speeches of freedom and peace. Many people considered her untouchable, so few even tried to bully her. That's what Kate liked about her- nothing could get her down. She had long, brown hair with a tinged of red, and startling eyes of green with gold veins. She wasn't fit, but she certainly wasn't fat. In fact, her size complimented her. And she had a happy glow.

The fact that she was here, in this warped new world, made Kate relax.

"Brenna!" Kate embraced her. "Are you ok?"

"As ok as it can get with two younger twin brothers hyped up on espresso shots. They raided a Starbucks before hitting here," she said.

Max cursed. "You're gonna need some help."

"No kidding. All I have is Piper. But your sister came over a few minutes ago, Kate, with two friends and one of Duke and Mitch's classmates."

"What?" Kate instantly looked towards Brenna's house. It was a lot like hers, with near the same layout. She jogged over, and into the open door, Cooper and Paris following.

"Abbi!" she called.

"Over here," came a pitiful reply. Kate swung herself into the living room.

The sight that greeted her was pure chaos. Three fifth graders were running around after each other, hyped up on sugar. One was cramming a candy bar into his mouth. Cooper and Paris joined in on the chase. Three girls were sitting, huddled together on the couch, whimpering, and in the background was a fluff of bright, red hair.

Kate kneeled down in front of the girl on the left. "Abbi, what's wrong?"

"Where'd Bibi go?"

"I don't know," she said slowly. The tears were coming at the mention of her grandmother's name, but she held them back. "But we can't just mope around. We need- Oi! Duke, Mitch, Rick. Sit down, goddamnit!

They just stuck their tongues out at her, laughed maniacally, and ran into the backyard.

Piper spoke up from in the background. "It's no use. The rapture happened and we got left behind."

"Shuddup," Kate growled. "I don't need your input."

"The televisions not working, the phones are all off, there's no internet," said Abbi's friend in the middle, Alexa.

"Whatever! That's no excuse to feel sorry for ourselves! We have other things to do!" She almost hit her, but held back her temper.

"Kate, calm down," Max laid a hand on her shoulder. But she shrugged it right off and stood up. Brenna and Anna were chatting lightly as they walked in.

"What do we do?" asked Katelyn, Abbi's other friend.

"We keep it together. We don't lose our heads! We make sure our pets don't starve to death or get run over, or we don't get hyped up on sugar. Max!"

He saluted, but slumped when Kate whacked him. "Yes ma'am?"

"Go get Brett. We're staying here tonight. All of us."

"Uh," Brenna began, but Kate looked at her.

"Your brothers are going to burn something down. They're outside. Go stop them."

Brenna nodded and set to it.

"Piper! Stop brooding and do something useful! Go down to the plaza and find out what the hell is going on!"

Piper just sighed. "Fine. Better than hanging around here."

Max watched her as she passed, and Kate almost sputtered. _He _liked _her_? Impossible! But who was she to judge?

"Get going Max. And get Pumpkin while you're at it."

"And Daisy!" called Alexa. "She's my dog."

"Get Rick. He'll take you to their house," Kate waved her hand, and Max went into the backyard.

"Abbi, Katelyn, go get some bedding from our house. Something tells me that what we have now will not be enough."

* * *

**A/N: And so it begins, what will soon be known as *drumroll* the Kate Clan! There are more people coming in, I even have a list of all the people, when they arrive into the family, when they (sadly) die, ages, grades, even where they came from. Oh yeah. I am that good. So next chapter is where we shall see more of Lucas. I know you miss him. Already… tata for now! (by the way, it took me 2 weeks to write this chapter. Yeah. This one was sorta short, but the next one is gonna be much longer. And by the way, Abbi is based off of my sister, Kate is based off of me, Alexa and Katelyn are based off of her two friends, Max and Anna are based off two of my friends, Brenna off of my two best friends, Piper after another one of my friends from China. Rick, Mitch, and Duke are based off of no one, and all animals do exist. Cooper is based off of my dog Tramp, and Paris after Tulip. Bibi is my own grandmother Marmee, and… that's all for now.**


	4. FOUR

**297 hours, 41 minutes**

Lucas was tired. His head hurt, he had loads of scratches, he was limping, and he was pretty sure that the swelling in his left eye was not a good thing. But no one seemed to know where he could get some first aid.

He had spent around half an hour just mulling around, doing nothing. It's what everyone else was doing. Some kids were breaking into stores, running around spray painting graffiti on the sides of buildings. Little kids were all sitting dazed at each other, and there were several kids that had looked at Lucas and given him the creeps. Perhaps they saw easy pickings.

And then there was what happened. What did happen? One second his father was right beside him, chattering on happily. Next thing, he's… gone.

"Gone," he said softly.

How was that even possible? Didn't the laws of physics say that was impossible? Were aliens invading? Had the terrorists come up with some epic new weapon that destroyed all adults? Was he all alone without anyone to rely on?

And Lucas was suddenly veering towards tears. His father, for all he knew, was dead. Hell, if he was dead, that would mean he was off the hook for Sacramento, but he didn't hate that place enough to lose his dad. Was this some kind of punishment? Was God mad at him for making his parents' divorce, or for being angry at them? But that didn't make any sense. Why was everyone else in trouble?

_God, I am praying to you. Please give me back my dad. Don't make me go back to my mom and her psycho girlfriend. I'll go live in Nazi Concentration Camp City if it means I get my dad back. And I'll go to church, I won't sleep with Laura anymore, I won't drink, I won't let my friends talk me into stealing stuff. I swear!_

If it meant his dad, his lame, stupid dad would be ok, then he'd sacrifice his own foot. Whatever was happening scared him. Badly. He needed someone or something that made sense.

He looked around. The plaza was pretty enough, and from this view, the town looked quaint. But kids had started destroying things. Just nearby, he saw some kids smoking weed. He had tried it once, and hated it from the beginning. But where there was weed, there were bad people. And the last thing he needed was bullies of the worst kind.

Lucas took his eyes off of the path he was once again wandering. In the sky, everything looked normal. As if it was just an ordinary day. But today, normal had crashed and burned.

Suddenly, he was flat on his face. The air was knocked out of him, and he cracked his head on the sidewalk. Another injury to chalk up on the board of misery.

Lucas looked up, and saw he had tripped over a small black girl's legs. She was looking at him with worry in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said, rubbing his head. He sat up, and blinked to rid the stars. "Sorry 'bout that."

"It's ok," she said. But her eyes trained on the bruises from the wreck. "Whoa, what happened there?"

"Car wreck. Some skaters pulled me out."

"You were in a car?"

"Yeah. Any idea what's going on?" He stood up, his vision finally clearing. He looked at the small girl, and was surprised by what he found. She had sharp features and a square jaw, and a near-caramel color skin. She couldn't be more than 13, and was tiny, coming up to his waist.

"No," the girl looked very doubtful. "All I know is that without adults, people are getting hurt."

"I miss my Mommy!" cried a voice. Lucas locked on to a young girl, with the same jaw as the black one and mouse brown hair.

"Hey, it's alright. The parents will be back. Soon," Lucas said, with a smile on his face, but even he knew it was a weak one. He decided changing the topic would be easier. "I'm Lucas. Lucas Lowe."

"I'm Lilly March, and this is my sister, Carolyn Martins." She stuck out her hand.

Lucas looked between the two, trying not to raise his eyebrows in surprise. But he took her hand and gave it a firm shake.

"I know, I know. She's my half-sister. My mom got married to her dad. She's white," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry," said Lucas sheepishly. "I didn't mean to… you know."

Lilly laughed. "It's ok. Nice to meet you. Where you from?"

"Oh, I'm from Santa Barbara. I was in the car with my dad when this… happened. Like I said. Car wreck." He gestured towards his body.

"I see. Well, I suppose we should just hang out here, huh?"

"Yeah…" Lucas was about to say more when he smelled something. "Is that… smoke?"

Lilly looked up and pointed at something. "Look!"

He turned around and saw smoke streaming from a window. "Holy… is that? A fire?"

Carolyn sniffled and looked up. She looked at Lucas with a 'no-duh' look on her face. "Well, aren't you going to do something?"

Lucas narrowed his eyes. "I don't think there's anything I can do. I mean, it's not as if I'm a fire-fighter."

Carolyn pushed herself off the wall and landed softly. She took Lilly's hand, and they walked towards the smoke.

Lucas watched curiously, before chasing to catch up. They stopped on the street, looking up. A few others were mulling around, staring up dumbly, and still more were attracted to the growing crowd.

The smoke was drifting out of a window above what looked like a shut-down floral shop and an insurance agency.

Someone came running. Lucas turned to see a two boys and a blonde girl, all his age come to a halting stop.

"Is any one in there?" the blonde girl asked. No one answered.

"It could spread," said the one with the brown hair.

"There's no 911," someone pointed out.

"If it spreads, it could burn down half the town." The boy looked slightly miffed.

"You see a fireman anywhere?"

"Great," he said. He grabbed two kids. "You guys, go to the daycare. Tell them to get the littles out of there."

They stared at him without moving. Lucas almost snorted.

"Now. Go. Do it!" he said, and they took off running.

Sam pointed at two other kids, one of which being Lucas himself. "You and you. Go into the hardware store, get the longest hose you can find. Get a spray nozzle, too. I think there's a spigot in that alley. Start spraying water on the side of the hardware store and up on the roof."

Lucas blinked. Was he telling him to… what?

"Dudes: Not tomorrow. Now. Now. Go! Quinn? You better go with them. We want to wet down the hardware- that's where the wind will take the fire next."

Quinn, Lucas guessed, was the black-haired boy with the fedora and pink shirt.

The boy rolled his eyes and pushed his way to the front of the crowd, and in a loud voice said, "Hey, listen up, this isn't Disney Channel. We can't just watch this happen. There are no adults. There's no fire department. We are the fire department."

Some Hispanic walked up. He said, "Sam's right. What do you need, Sam? I'm with you."

Sam. So that was his name.

"Ok. Quinn? The hoses from the hardware store. Edilio? Let's get the big hoses from the fire station, hook 'em up to the hydrant.

"They'll be heavy," said Edilio. "I'll need some strong guys."

"You, you, you, you." Sam grabbed several large kids by the shoulder, and pushed them into motion. "Come on. You. You. Let's go!"

And then, there was the wailing.

Sam froze.

"There's someone in there," Lilly moaned.

"Quiet," Sam hissed, and everyone fell silent, listening to the roar and crackle of the fire, the distant care alarms, and then, a cry: "Mommy.

"Mommy."

Someone mocked the voice in a falsetto. "Mommy, I'm scared."

Lucas turned to see a mountain of muscle and fat, all contorted into cruel, dumb features. He was chuckling with a black boy. He found it… funny! Lucas growled and stepped forward, but Lilly intercepted and shook her head. "Orc's a bully, and a bad one. Don't make an enemy of him."

He was about to say something, but Sam yelled. "Kid. Can you get to the door or the window?"

Lucas craned his neck to look. There were six windows on the front of the building, one in the alley. The far left window was where the fire was, but now smoke was drifting out of the second window. The fire was spreading.

"Mommy!" There it was again. It was clear, not hacking or choking. At least, not yet.

Lucas looked to Lilly and Carolyn. "Stay back. I'll come back once I figure out how to help."

Lilly nodded. Her face was sullen, and afraid. Lucas didn't want to leave her alone, but he had to do something. But a part of him wondered, why did he care? She was a stranger. A random person in a strange town with a weird problem. But she was alone, it seemed, with no one but her little sister. And he felt a sense of responsibility towards them

He ran up to the Quinn kid as Sam ran into the building. "Hey man, should we go get that hose he was talking about?"

Quinn looked him up and down. "Do I know you?"

"No," he said, annoyed. "Are we going to do it?"

"I guess," he shrugged. Lucas turned to the other guy, some eighth grader.

"Let's go. Where's the hardware store?"

"Follow me." Quinn led the way.

They ran at full speed to the store. It wasn't a Home's Depot, but it had a complete enough selection. He and the two other boys ran through the aisles till they found the hoses.

"How long do we need?" asked the eighth grader.

"I dunno. What's the longest they have?" said Lucas.

"40 feet." Quinn raised his arm to show the hose. He almost whistled. That stuff was heavy.

"Ok, let's get 'er done," said the other boy, whooping.

Lucas rolled his eyes, and took the hose from Quinn. "Where's the spigot?"

Quinn motioned for him to follow and they ran back out and into an alley.

Lucas looked to Quinn. He looked back incredulously. "Don't look at me! I'm just a surfer."

The other kid had already gotten the hose unraveled and had screwed it in. He picked up the opposite side, and cocked an eyebrow. "Is this supposed to take out a fire?"

Lucas' eyes widened. "We forgot the nozzle!"

Quinn nodded. "I'll go get it." He ran off.

He turned back to the kid. "C'mon, let's start spraying something."

He nodded. "Name's Joel. But… you can call me Turbo."

"Turbo?" Lucas laughed. "Ok. I'm Lucas."

"Nice to meet you," said Turbo, turning the water on. "Where you from?"

"Santa Barbara. I was in a car when the… thing happened." He picked up the hose and started wetting the wall.

"Oh yeah. Man, that was weird. Everyone's gone," he smiled. "But that's not so bad. That means more time skating without adults yelling at me. I can finally show Kate my newest trick." He winked.

"Kate?" he mused.

"Yeah. She's part of Max's crew. But she still hangs out with us lower grades."

Lucas turned back. The name Max caught his ear. Wasn't that the boy that helped him from the car? "You sound a little… flustered."

He blushed, and took the hose from him. "Yeah, well… she's pretty cool. But she has a boyfriend. Raphael, some guy with Venezuelan parents. But he's like, 17, and a junior."

"Wow," he whistled. "Sounds scandalous."

"Yeah, well, her dad isn't around to chase him off." His eyes glazed over.

Lucas coughed, awkwardly. Luckily, Quinn jogged back to them, and he screwed on the nozzle. "Edilio's got a hose out there, and's asking for help."

Turbo grabbed the hose. "The cavalry has arrived," he said, eyes gleaming again.

They hoisted the hose out of the alley and towards the fire. Turbo laughed maniacally as he fired the hose up to the windows. "Say 'ello to my little friend!"

"Dude. Calm down." Quinn laid a hand on his shoulder. Lucas moved and took the hose. Nearby, a few kids were laying a ladder against the wall. Turbo ran up to help, leaving Lucas and Quinn to try and spray water through the window. All they did was succeed in drenching the Hispanic, Edilio.

Quinn laughed. "Wetback. Literally"

Lucas elbowed him. "Not cool."

He just shrugged, and Lucas waited and watched. Edilio was waiting at the top of the ladder, shouting into the roar of the fire. Turbo was at the bottom of the ladder, ready to help.

Quinn swore. "C'mon Sam… where are you?"

Lucas looked curiously at Quinn. "Who is Sam, anyways, to take charge of the situation?"

"He's School Bus Sam. Back in seventh grade, he saved a bus when the driver got a heart attack. Otherwise, everyone would have died."

"Wow," he whistled. "Nice."

"Yeah, I guess."

A commotion at that top of the ladder drew their attention. A little girl covered in ash and soot was being handed down. Turbo made room for the guy to come down with the little girl. She was set gently on the concrete, and someone ran up. He then climbed up so that when Sam came out, he was there to help. They handed him down and Lucas, with alarm, saw that part of his shirt was smoking. He aimed the water stream at him, soaking him. He opened his mouth gratefully to drink it in. And then he went slack.

The blonde girl pushed him away. "Sam!" she said firmly.

"Dude, this is real heavy," said Turbo as he came up.

"The little girl. Is she ok?"

"No man, she's dead. And let me tell you, the smell of cooked flesh: plain nasty. It smelled like fried chicken."

The sharp sound of a slap made Turbo and Lucas look down. The girl was apologizing to the boy. "Sorry," she said. "I needed to wake you up."

Lucas nodded to Turbo. "I need to go find someone. You got things covered here?"

"Yeah. I'll catch up with you later. I'll give you my phone number."

Turbo held his hands up. "No need. There's no service."

This made him freeze. In all his pacing, he had forgotten about his phone. Forgotten to call someone. "What?"

"Yeah. People are saying there's no internet either, or even TV. Man that sucks.'

"Well, um… I'll ask around for you. See you around, I guess."

"A'ight see ya Luke-Man!"

"It's Lucas!" he called back as he walked off.

"Whateva'."

**_~Linebreak~_**

It took Lucas a while to find Lilly and Carolyn in the crowd. Kids that had been zombies before were now panicking; the rumor grapevine was spreading. When he finally did find them, Lilly was watching nervously. When she spotted him, she let out a sigh of relief. "You're ok."

"Yeah, but… the little girl isn't."

"We heard." There was a silence, before Carolyn spoke up.

"Who cares! I wanna go home!"

Lucas gaped at the little girl. "Carolyn, someone died. She's gone."

"But I didn't know her. So why should I care?"

"Um…," Lucas froze. "Well, I guess… it's the… right thing to do?"

The girl glared at her. "You're stupid!"

"Carolyn!" Lilly hissed at her sister. "I'm sorry Lucas, she doesn't mean it."

"Yes I- mmph!"

"Lucas, do you know anyone here?" Lilly said, but it ended in a squeal when she removed her hand from Carolyn's mouth. She began to wipe it on her jeans.

"Well, there's that guy Turbo- I mean Joel, and then there's Max Trotter, I think. He pulled me out of the fire with two other girls."

Lilly's eyes shot wide. "You met Max?"

"Yeah."

"He's the head skater here. He has a lot of people in his crew, but he has four people that are specially in his group. Everyone calls them his 'harem'. It has Kate Terral, Anna Rigsby who is in my grade, Nikki Shada, but she moved away recently, and then Roscoe Karp."

"Harem? That would imply he's sleeping with all of them."

"Well, the term is used loosely. He just kinda… defends them. And he's got 'em whipped." Lilly looked him up and down. "But he's not someone to mess with. Ever. He has friends in higher up places. Like in some of the gangs. He has connections."

"Gangs?" Lucas stiffened. "That sounds like he's headed down the wrong side of the road."

"Yeah," Lilly laughed. "You also don't want to go down with him. But I guess you can stay with us until things go back to normal."

"No!" Carolyn protested, but she was silenced with a sharp look.

"I don't want to intrude."

"Nonsense! You're very welcome. And right now, I don't feel very safe. A guy like you could help."

"Help? Me?"

"You're obviously some kind of hunk, from wherever you're from. You have the build, the swagger, the look. Thus, your vibe will scare off bullies."

Lucas just regarded her.

"I'm good with figuring people," she said, shrugging. "Now do you want to come? Or do you want to spend the night on the grass here?"

"I'm in!"

* * *

**A/N: Lilly and Carolyn are based off of my trombone player friend and her little sister, and Joel is Turbo, and they are mentioned twice in the series. Quite long, eh? ONE WEEK! RECORD! That's over 2,000 words. Boom. The word count is up to 8,749. And only what, four chapters so far? And I am going to be so full of it and make shipping names, even if they are nonexistent. I am not telling you about any future relationships. I am doing this for fun. *And let the shipping wars begin!***


	5. FIVE

**288 hours, 34 minutes**

Night came quickly. Max had Brett with him. Alexa, Abbi, and Katelyn all slept in the same room, with most of the dogs. Kate had put them in there because she was worried about the three girls. They weren't strong. They weren't fierce. All they had were each other, and given comfort.

Brenna and Piper were rooming in the master bedroom, while Anna and Kate were in Brenna's bedroom with Anna's cat, Pumpkin. Duke and Mitch were still in their room, with Rick. Apparently, Duke and Mitch shared a ferret. And that ferret, Scratch, was a problem. It tore holes in sheets, burrowed into shoes, caused Pumpkin to run into a chair, and made the dogs go crazy. Kate hated that ferret.

So now, it was getting late. It had been a long day, trying to sort everyone out. Everyone was scared, accept the three, ten year old boys. It turned out that Duke and Mitch, fraternal twins, had raided the schools vending machine. Rick had joined them at that point, and they had run wild through the town, loaded on sugar.

Kate herself was worried. All she could do was think about where her grandmother might be, and how the hell this happened. Perhaps they were just removed and placed a mile away. Maybe they were all invisible. But how? What could have such power as to take all the adults out of a town?

A creaking from the bedroom made Kate sit up. Max was peeking in, but he was dressed…

"Why are you in black?" she whispered.

"Because we've got a mission," he said. "Come on, head over to your place and get some dark clothes on."

"What? What mission?" She struggled up, and glared at him. Anna stirred in her sleep and lazily looked up at them.

"What's going on?"

"Old Man Reese stole my remote control airplane. I was showing it to Brett the other day, and it was flying over his backyard when the battery ran out. I asked him to give it back to me, and he said no!"

Kate stifled a giggle. "Really? Well, c'mon Anna. Let's go get some stuff on to help out Max."

**_~Linebreak~_**

"This is so illegal," said Anna as Max fiddled with the lock.

"I'm only getting back what he took from me," he said.

Kate leaned down and looked underneath a stone frog that was by the door. Underneath was taped a key.

"Max, hang on. I got a key."

He moved out of the way as Kate unlocked it. When she opened the door, Max let out a squeal and ran in. Kate almost doubled over laughing, but followed.

Inside, there was a collection that would give an antique collector a wet dream. Kate herself was quite sure some of this stuff was priceless. Old, dusty swords, guns, and suits of armor and samurai gear were everywhere.

Max let out a low whistle and a steady stream of swear words.

Anna, uninterested, had already moved off somewhere else.

"This stuff- thousands. At least," said Kate.

Max picked up a samurai helmet and put it on. "Check it out!"

Kate squealed and removed the helmet from his head. "We are only here for the plane!"

He pouted, and ran off.

A gleam cut Kate's eye. As Anna turned on the kitchen light and dug through the refrigerator, a glass case came to light. On it was a card that read 'The Sword of Mizaki'.

"The Sword… of Mizaki?" she whispered.

The card then went on to describe it belonged to a famous samurai, and was, no surprise, priceless.

"If someone can get into this house, they'll steal that in an instant."

Kate turned, and there was Anna, chewing on a sandwich.

"No kidding… maybe… no, that's wrong."

"What?"

"Do you think he'd hate us if I kept it safe for him?"

"Na, he'd thank you! You saved his sword from being stolen!"

Kate nodded, and removed the case. Slowly, carefully, she picked it up and pulled it form its sheath. The glint of the metal dazzled her, the sharp edge cutting through the air mesmerizing. Anna even dropped her sandwich.

"It's magic," she said, decidedly.

"No such thing," Kate said slowly, whipping the blade around.

Anna let out an absurd sound and walked off.

Kate put it back into its sheath, and managed to find a way to clip it to her belt. It hung there, limp, almost making her believe that it was nothing more than a stick.

A cry came from the hallway. Kate rushed down and found Anna staring, wide-eyed, into the closet.

"What is it?" she said, going to join her.

She lifted her finger, the hand shaking, and whimpered.

Inside the closet, there were guns. Large guns, small guns, all black and all deadly. They hung against it, obscured by the clothing. And all of them were most definitely illegal.

"Those are automatics. Automatics are illegal," said Kate dumbly.

Anna regained her composure, then cursed at her. "What do we do?"

"Nothing!" Kate exclaimed.

"If some kid gets a hold of these, who knows what could go down?"

"Then… we put them in a box and hide them somewhere."

Max came in, whistling. "Yo, there you are. Check it, I got my plane!"

Kate glared at him, and gestured towards the closet. "This guy's ready for the apocalypse."

Max let out a shrill laugh and looked over. His face instantly turned pale. "No… way…. Old Man Reese has some balls after all! Man, we should totally like get a watermelon, and like take this out into the desert and pump it."

"No! No, we are not doing that! We are going to hide them, so no one else gets them," said Kate.

"Aw, come on! Look at this!"

"It's illegal! Not to mention deadly!"

Max stuck out his lip. "Pwetty pwease?"

Kate shook her head, adamant.

"Fine… I'll go get a box. Sheesh."

**_~Linebreak~_**

Blood blinded her. Her temple was throbbing, and the pain was unbearable. She staggered, and almost fell down the stairs. But she managed to push her body against the doors.

Heads turned to look at her. She said the only thing that she could really think of. "My head hurts."

She tried to walk forward, but her left leg wouldn't go. She had to drag it along.

One girl ran forward to catch her. She yelled, "Elwood wake up!"

Other hands moved towards her, and they hoisted her up onto a bed.

Voices became nails inside her head. The girl that ran forward, that she now realized was Dahra, screamed at them to stop.

"I'm sorry," she tried to say, but the words came out slurred.

Dahra tried to speak to her again, but she couldn't really understand the words. Was it an apology? Did she tell her to lie down?

"My head hurts," she said, a hand pressed to her throbbing head.

"Did someone hit you, Bette?" asked a boy.

What? Who's Bette? Wait, that's her. She forgot for a moment. But did someone hit her? Her face twisted in confusion. She doesn't really know. Instead she let out a low moan of pain.

"One side of her body isn't working," Dahra said. "Look at the way her mouth is drooping. And her eyes. They don't match."

"My head hurts bad," she tried to say. Her face wasn't drooping. Or was it?

"I think she's saying her head hurts," said another girl, Mary Terrafino, maybe? "What do we do?"

"I don't know, how about I just cut open her head and see if I can fix it? Then I'll just do some quick surgery on Cookie. No problem. I mean, I have this stupid book." Dahra picked up the large book and threw it across the room. Bette thought this was a tad bit unfair to the book.

Suddenly, she felt something strange. The pain was starting to dull. Was she getting better? No, she realized with a sharp barb of terror. She was dying. Everything starting to fade into a hum in the background.

"Take care of my brother," she said, gripping the person closest, Mary. "My little brother."

Mary looked shocked at her words, but she didn't have time to elaborate. She felt one last stab of pain, then, it was over. The last thing she heard was Dahra, saying her name.

**_~Linebreak~_**

Piper woke up with a start. There it was again, that awful dream. There was the one from last night, about the fire, and the scary figure with bright hands. But this was different. This wasn't some old person, or some drug addict or alcoholic. Nor was it some child with no understanding. Unlike others that were blurred, ignorant, and slow, or accepted the end, this person was her age. The connection to her was strong- someone she knew. And she understood what was happening. She felt that extreme pain, and knew she was dying.

"Not again," she sobbed. Tears were falling freely down her face. This happened every night, where she experienced some death. It was a different person every night. And it wasn't real. There was only on time when someone she knew had died. She didn't remember the dream in the morning, but after several years of contemplating, she realized she had known old Mrs. Hogan was on her way.

She had thought nothing of the coincidence, until today. That little girl died, and exactly the way in her dream. Was she causing the deaths? No, impossible. People died every day, and she didn't even know them. How could she affect them?

The whole idea that it was more than a dream, more than coincidence, was absurd. The idea she could see someone's death before it happened, even crazier, perfectly insane!

"What the hell," she muttered to herself, and lay down. She should be able to sleep the rest of the night in peace.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, here we are. Our first Piper PoV. I suppose you also like the whole katana thing. Mizaki was never a real samurai, so I kinda made that up on the spot. I'm slowing down here people. Sorry, I'm trying. I really am. But it's taken me forever just to write this one thing. Started in June, it's now August. And I REALLY have to rely on the book. That's tough to do. I want it as realistic as possible. Let me know how I'm doing, because right now, I feel like I'm doing this all for nothing. The stats on the teasers are real low from what I thought they would be.**


	6. Intermission!

Due to time management issues, the next chapter of Gone will be up in 10/21- for a price. We need more reviews, follows, and favorites so we know that the story is worth the author's time.

Thank You.


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